‘We will never be the same’: Montreal mother honours son killed in Oct.7 Hamas attack

Raquel Ohnona Look becomes emotional when she sees the plaque dedicated to her son Alexandre, mounted on a bench in a suburban Montreal park that has recently been renamed in his memory.

"Forever in our hearts. Our hero," reads the plaque, displaying his name alongside the dates of his birth and passing—Sept. 10, 1990, to Oct. 7, 2023.

Alexandre Look, a 33-year-old from Montreal, was one of the concertgoers killed a year ago on Monday during the Supernova music festival, a target of Hamas militants during their attack on Israel. He was among at least eight individuals with Canadian citizenship or ties to Canada who died in the Oct. 7 assault.

“It’s been a difficult year. It’s a new reality. Our family dynamic has changed,” Ohnona Look shared in an interview just before Rosh Hashanah. “He was such a huge presence, and we’ll never be the same as we were before Oct. 7.”

The tragic day became every parent's worst nightmare for Ohnona Look and her husband, Alain, who witnessed their son’s final moments from their home in Montreal. They were on a video call with Alexandre as the Hamas assault unfolded, and he sought refuge in a shelter with about 30 other festival attendees.

Ohnona Look recalled hearing gunfire and dropping the phone in shock, while her husband picked it up, trying to understand the situation. When they heard the phrase "Allahu akbar" through the phone, they realized their son was gone.

A year later, the grief is still overwhelming, Ohnona Look explained. “It’s a hole in the heart. It’s anger. It’s trauma because having your child murdered while you’re on the phone with them... it’s something you don’t recover from.”

Over the past year, she has spent long hours speaking with survivors from the shelter to learn about her son’s final moments.

“He was a hero that day,” she discovered. “He sacrificed his life, positioning himself at the front of the shelter to protect others.” Survivors told her that Alexandre lifted their spirits during the attack, even trying to comfort his mother during their call, discussing holiday meals and keeping an upbeat tone. He also attempted to reason with the attackers, but, as his mother said, "you can’t reason with monsters."

Recently, in a meeting with a first responder who attended to Alexandre’s body, Ohnona Look found closure on some haunting details. She learned that Alexandre was found shielding two people at the front of the shelter, taking the brunt of the gunfire and grenades. Many others, further back in the shelter, survived.

“But that was Alex, and he would have done it a hundred times over,” she said. “He always lived guided by his fearless, enormous heart.”

Alexandre was a natural salesman, fluent in six languages, and had recently been living in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, selling cosmetics. He was in Israel on vacation when the tragedy occurred.

Following his death, the Look family moved back to Côte-St-Luc, a predominantly Jewish suburb of Montreal, where the newly renamed Alexandre Look Place is situated. It is near the Jewish high school Alexandre attended and the synagogue where his father prays daily. The community continues to mourn alongside the family, with passersby offering hugs and condolences during the interview.

Now, Ohnona Look is determined to ensure that the victims of Oct. 7, whom she calls the "Nova Angels" from the music festival and those killed in their kibbutzim, are not forgotten.

These victims include Judih Weinstein Haggai, 70, a Canadian, Israeli, and American citizen who was killed during a walk with her husband near the Nir Oz kibbutz, close to the Gaza Strip. Their bodies remain in Gaza, according to their daughter. Another victim, Vivian Silver, 74, from Winnipeg, died at the Be’eri kibbutz, also near Gaza. Initially believed to have been taken hostage, Silver’s body was identified in mid-November.

Other Canadians killed in the attack included Ben Mizrachi, 22, of Vancouver, alongside Alexandre Look. Dual Israeli-Canadian nationals Netta Epstein, 21; Shir Georgy, 22; and Adi Vital-Kaploun, 33, also lost their lives, as did Tiferet Lapidot, 22, an Israeli with Canadian roots, who was found dead days later after the festival.

Though the pain remains, Ohnona Look is in “warrior mode,” fighting against rising antisemitism and advocating for those still missing.

“I’m doing what my son would want me to do,” she said. “I’m speaking for all the forgotten ones, the hostages who remain... even if only bodies are left, we need them returned.”